


Super Responsible Pancake

by simpletextadventure



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-11 14:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13525788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simpletextadventure/pseuds/simpletextadventure
Summary: William has an accident.





	Super Responsible Pancake

"Of course I can pick you up", William said to his wife on the phone. After a quick search for the car keys, he already was in his small car and started the engine. Right after the engine, he turned on the radio. William moved his head to the beat of the country music. William let his mind wander while he drove along the road to the grocery store at the permitted maximum speed of 35 mph.

Suddenly he heard the horn from a truck. He hit the brakes, spun the steering wheel and closed his eyes. At his last moment he had been sure that the truck would ram him but nothing happened. William let out a slow breath and opened his eyes. He felt a cold shudder on his back, then he got goose bumps all over his body. William let go of the steering wheel. He had clutched it so tightly that his fingers are now pale. It seemed to him as if the air around him had changed. "Do you feel that way when you almost die?", William wondered.

He no longer had any desire for music, when he used the volume control, it broke off. William felt no annoyance, he did not feel anything at that moment. It was quiet, only the engine rattled softly. He breathed again and was about to drive off, when someone knocked on the window of his car door. William was so startled that he could feel his heart stop.

William wanted to open the window but the window regulator did not work, so he opened the door a crack.  
  
**William** : Yes?  
**Chauffeur** : * pointed to a taxi * Would you like me to take you with me?"  
**William** : No, why would I want that?  
**Chauffeur** : Do you know your destination?  
**William** : * finds it difficult to remember * Um ... I'll pick up my wife. Yes, exactly ... I have to find Joyce. She's at the grocery store. She is waiting for me!  
**Chauffeur** : You should forget that. You can not pick her up.  
**William** : ... What?  
**Chauffeur** : You are dead.  
  
William opened his mouth, he wanted to tell the man that he's not dead, of course, but he did not even want to discuss the question of whether he was dead or not! He closed his car door, and although he did not close the door particularly vigorously, the glass shattered. But William did not care at the moment, he just wanted to leave! William drove off. In the mirror he could see the strange man, he just stood there. Thanks to the broken window, William felt the air pass him by. It seemed to him that his memories were flowing out the window with the air. He definitely did not want to forget. He knew he needed to remember, because what would remain of him if he forgot?

William turned and headed for the store's parking lot, but his wife was not there. "Joyce, where are you?", William whispered, "Please save me, I'm losing myself!" He stopped right outside the entrance. "Maybe she's still in the store?", He thought, getting out of his car. He ran to the store. He wanted to find Joyce, someone he knows, someone he trusts!

He ran through the shop, past countless shelves. All filled with things William had planned to buy ... or to do. There was a department where there was only blue paint and brushes to buy. In one department there were only airline tickets for a trip to France to buy ... and so on and so on ... William forgot ... he forgot why he was here. A little later he was at the cash register and the cashier scanned all the things William wanted to buy. When she was ready, he took his purse but William had no cash, so he gave the woman his credit card.

**Cashier** : I'm sorry, sir. It seems your account is empty.  
**William** : What, that can not be!  
**Cashier** : I can try again * pulls the card again through the slot at the cash register * you seem right, you've been credited with many years ... transferred by Mrs. Caulfield.  
**William** : Vanessa, gave me money?  
**Cashier** : No, it says Maxine Caulfield. ... Oh, now I understand, she canceled the transaction, that's why your account is empty, I'm sorry, sir.  
**William** : But what does that mean?"  
**Cashier** : * She looks at all the things that William actually wanted to buy * You can not do any of this!  
**William** : But ... that's nonsense! I have to do all these things!  
**Cashier** : Sir, please calm down, otherwise I have to call the security!  
**William** : Please, let me at least finish the house. I have only half painted it, until now.  
**Cashier** : No.  
**William** : What about my card?  
**Cashier** : I have to keep it. * looks out the window * It looks like your car will be towed.  
**William** : Oh no, I need it ... um, I need it ... Joyec! I have to pick up Joyce! I have to find her!

William ran out of the shop to his car. His car was completely destroyed and a man was busy towing it.  
  
**William** : What happened here? Why are you carrying my car?  
**Man from the towing service** : This is your car? I'm sorry, did you know the driver?  
**William** : I am the driver!  
**Man from the towing service** : Yeah sure, I do not have time for this!  
  
The man turned back and continued with his work. "The car does not matter.", William thought, "I can forget it but I have to find Joyce!" William pulled out his phone, the display showed some new messages.  
  
**Joyce** [text message]: Where are you? My feet are killing me!  
**Joyce** [text message]: Why don't you answer your phone?  
**Joyce** [text message]: William, seriously, if you forgot me, I'll kill you!  
**Joyce** [text message]: Here just passed an ambulance and a fire truck. Please contact me! I'm worried!  
  
**Chloe** [text message]: Dad?  
**Chloe** [text message]: I do not believe it. I know that it is not true! Please come home.  
**Chloe** [text message]: Please!  
**Chloe** [text message]: I just heard something. Was that you?  
  
**Max** [text message]: Sorry, Chloe comes first!  
  
**Chauffeur** : Would you like me to take you with me?  
  
William scares himself to death when he hears the voice of the strange man. He drops the phone and it breaks. William needs a moment to calm down. William's car has suddenly disappeared. The taxi of the strange man is now standing in front of him.  
  
**William** : Can you take me to my wife and to my daughter? Please!  
**Chauffeur** : No, that is not your destination.  
**William** : Of course that's my destination!  
**Chauffeur** : * goes to his taxi and opens one of the rear doors * You have to let go.  
**William** : No!

William runs past the taxi. "Maybe she is in the Two Whales Diner.", he thought and ran down the street. The distance to the Two Whales Diner was not far but William felt like he is moving against an invisible resistance. Every step was difficult for him and it was increasingly difficult for him to remember. He was followed by the taxi all the way and he almost stopped and got into the taxi. He was so tired. But then he saw the Two Whales Diner and with last strength he dragged himself into the diner. The taxi parked in front of the door. William was glad to see that the strange man was staying outside.

When William turned and looked around the restaurant, he found that everyone was looking at him. People stopped talking and even the jukebox stopped playing. William did not know these people. None of the faces seemed familiar to him. "I'm looking for my wife, her name is Joyce.", William said. He already knew that none of the people knew Joyce but he still asked. He felt as if he had to defend himself for his intrusion. It felt like he was out of place. Everything seemed strange to William, as from another world in which he no longer belonged.

William was desperately looking for a solution. He knew he would not make it home, not without his car. The chauffeur was still waiting outside the door. The man with the taxi was the only person whose face William was not completely unfamiliar with. But there was one more thing that William was familiar with, the lighthouse! William went outside and grabbed the strange man by the shoulders.  
  
**William** : Please take me to the lighthouse!  
**Chauffeur** : Of course!  
  
The man opened again one of the rear doors. Inside the taxi was a park bench instead of a back seat. When William sat down, he was on the park bench by the lighthouse. William enjoyed the nice weather. The sun was already setting but it was still warm. He felt empty but not bad. For the first time since his accident, he had come to rest. Suddenly the strange man sat down beside William. But this time William wasn't startled.  
  
**Chauffeur** : This is one of my favorite places.  
**William** : Is that your job to bring the dead to a place of their choice?  
**Chauffeur** : Yes, you could say that.  
**William** : Then you have already seen a lot.  
**Chauffeur** : Absolute. Mostly it is nice. Like this place. But sometimes people want to see the world from the moon or something like that, that's not so nice then.  
**William** : How come?  
**Chauffeur** : They always forget to ask for a space suit.  
**William** : ... are you kidding?  
**Chauffeur** : * grins * Yes.  
**William** : I knew since the first time I saw you that you are strange.  
**Chauffeur** : People keep saying that to me. This is usually the moment when people are ready to leave.  
**William** : I have a question. What does Max have to do with my dead?  
**Chauffeur** : * sighs * I'll show you.  
  
Suddenly it started snowing and the next moment William was in a snow globe on the mantelpiece in his house. He saw Max save him. He saw Chloe in a wheelchair and he saw Max undoing her decision.  
  
**William** : I understand.  
**Chauffeur** : Do you want to go?  
**William** : Yes.  
  
Suddenly the park bench began to move gently and William found himself on a small boat on the coast of Arcadia Bay. The boat moved toward the horizon and William finally parted from time and space.


End file.
